EVS Partnership Building Seminar “Linking Bridges-Building Networks”

October 6‐13, 2015 / Armenia

European Voluntary Service is a type of mobility programme which plays a crucial role in

shaping the further development and advancement of all direct and indirect partners involved in

the project: Volunteer, SOHOs, target groups, mentors, communities therefore it requires to spare

no efforts for working towards the improvement and increase of high quality of EVS projects,

deepening trustful partnership, setting certain mechanisms for tracking quality in EVS projects and

learning from various realities and practices. Thereby, we address the need to organize a

partnership building seminar for EVS support people, EVS Coordinators, Mentors/Tutors, which

will enable networking amongst experienced and new organizations working with EVS by bringing

new inputs and perspectives for setting up trustful partnerships, increasing the quality of EVS

projects and sharing best practices and experiences.

The aim of the partnership building seminar is to foster cooperation between EVS Organizations in

Europe aiming at increased quality and innovation in EVS through the exchange of good practices.

Objectives:

- Establishing and deepening EVS partnership through experiential learning,

- Learning about various mechanisms to increase quality and innovation in EVS,

- Exchange of good practices in national and international contexts,

- Discovering EVS realities in Armenia through study visits. See the draft agenda of the seminar on the last page of this info-pack.

Profile of participants The participants should meet the following criteria/have the following criteria:

- To be EVS support people, EVS coordinators, EVS Mentors/Tutors; experiences in youth work,

- To have strong interest and motivation on the topic,

- To have Interest in reliable partnerships and new EVS projects,

- Willing to increase quality and innovation in their EVS projects,

- Willing to contribute to the seminar through sharing best practices,

- To be committed to spending long hours on the road and often changing their location.

Project Description

EVS Partnership Building Seminar “Linking Bridges-Building Networks”

October 6‐13, 2015 / Armenia

Artur Najaryan Mariam Gharagyozyan Anna Perepechai Anna Yeghoyan Project Manager Project Coordinator Project Manager Facilitator

Project and Travel Dates: 06 October, 2015-13 October, 2015. You should arrive in Gyumri

/the first seminar venue/ until 18:00 on 6th of October. The departure will be on 13th of October in

the morning.

Travelling to Yerevan

You should organize your travel to arrive in the capital of Armenia: Yerevan until 18:00 on 6th of

October. You will be picked up at “Zvartnots” International Airports, Yerevan (http://www.aia-

zvartnots.aero),according to the travel details provided beforehand. There will be one of the

organizers with the sign of YIC at the airport to meet you up.

Travelling to Georgia

As soon as you arrive in Tbilisi/Kutaisi you take public transport (in case of Kutaisi-at first a bus to

Tbilisi) and from Tbilisi airport you need to take a bus number 37 and get off on Rustaveli street

from where a yellow mini-bus number 133 should be taken to Ortachala bus station. From the bus

station a mini-bus should be taken towards Gyumri, which departs once a day at 10:30. It will cost

around 15 EUR to get to Gyumri by mini-bus by taking maximum 3.5-4 hours. You will be met at the

Gyumri bus station by the organizers with the YIC sign. You are kindly asked to be in Gyumri until

18:00 on 6th of October.

In case there will be too many people flying to Tbilisi we will arrange a mini-bus who will take you to the project venue right from the airport.

Project Team

Important Dates

EVS Partnership Building Seminar “Linking Bridges-Building Networks”

October 6‐13, 2015 / Armenia

As soon as you search for suitable flights, please contact us at rebecca.hovhannisyan@yic.am to

consult on the dates and times of your travel. By getting a green light from the organizers, you are

requested to book your tickets. The travel details should be provided through filling in the

following Google form in order to be able to arrange your meeting at the airport and transfer to

the training venue. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1s5BEoS54TJXiHfAsUG5W67x2OzwVFma_-

DFT0C5T7wU/viewform

Reimbursement of travel costs will ONLY be done upon full attendance in the seminar and

presentation of the original tickets with boarding passes and receipt/invoices.You are expected to

participate fully in the seminar activities, unless you are ill. Unauthorized absence from activities

and workshops will not be permitted and if happening, may result in the cancellation of travel

costs’ reimbursements and/or expulsion of the event.

Reimbursement for the countries coming outside of the European Union will be done during the

seminar and for the EU countries will be done via bank transfer.

! Note: Bring original invoices and tickets, print out e‐tickets and keep your boarding passes. Price,

currency, name of passenger, date of purchase and travel should be clearly visible on all

documents, otherwise we will be unable to reimburse the travel costs.

!! Note: If you wish to travel on other dates as the project’s dates (October 6th and October 13th),

please ask for confirmation before booking the tickets (we accept travel 4 days before the event

and 4 days after the event under the condition that no stop-overs are done on the travel)

!!! Note: Reimbursement will be done in EUR, regardless of the currency indicated on the ticket

and receipt/invoice. Any tickets purchased in a local currency other than EUR, will then be

converted and calculated according to the exchange rate of the month when the tickets were

purchased, as stated in the official European Commission website at:

http://ec.europa.eu/budget/inforeuro

!!!! Note: The costs of pickups and drop offs arranged by the organizers from and to the respective

cities: Yerevan/Tbilisi will be included in the travel and deducted from the overall reimbursement

of international travel.

Please see the country-specific travel budget limits given below per person, per country, which is given according to Erasmus+ distance calculator: http://erasmus-plus.ro/erasmus-plus-distance-calculator-budget/

Travel Rules and Costs

EVS Partnership Building Seminar “Linking Bridges-Building Networks”

October 6‐13, 2015 / Armenia

Travel Costs Limits

Country Amount

Austria-Jugendzentrum Perg 360 EUR

Germany-Kultur Aktiv e.V 360 EUR

Greece-Solidarity Tracks 275 EUR

Italy-Jump in associazione culturale 360 EUR

Moldova-ADVIT Moldova 275 EUR

Portugal-Youth Union of People with Initiative 820 EUR

Spain-Fundació Catalunya Voluntària 530 EUR

The Seminar intends to embrace Armenia from North to South. Several of essential activities of the

project will be organized “On the Go”, study visit elements of the seminar will be prevailing and the

participants will be accommodated at convenient hotel/hostels of the respective cities where the

visits will be organized: Gyumri, Vanadzor, Yerevan, Goris, Tatev.

The spots of cities can be found on Google map marked with red below:

Venues of the Seminar

EVS Partnership Building Seminar “Linking Bridges-Building Networks”

October 6‐13, 2015 / Armenia

Checklist – what you need to bring with you

Proof of all the travel expenses you wish to reclaim: No payment will be made without a

proof of your expenses! If you come by plane, please be sure to bring evidence of the sum

actually paid (invoice, copy of credit card slip), a copy of the ticket and your boarding

passes, or in the case of an email booking, a print out of the reservation confirmation and

financial transaction. Private Expenses: Board, lodging and activities will be covered by the organizers. However,

all participants’ personal costs (like telephone calls, gifts and souvenirs, etc.) and/or any

other cost not linked to program’s events have to be covered by the participants and will

be settled directly by them. Bring personal money for these private costs.

NGO Fair: Flyers, brochures, promotional materials, etc., to present your organization to

the other participants.

Intercultural evening: Each national group should present shortly their country and culture

during the intercultural evening. Additionally participants may present drinks and food

from their country and region and any other items about their country (brochure, pictures,

costumes, etc.) that they want to share with the group. Health insurance: The insurance is the responsibility of the participants, please make sure

you are covered with an insurance plan during your stay in Armenia!

Weather in Armenia In October we have really nice weather in Armenia, colorful and sunny, but don’t forget to take

jackets and some warm clothes with you especially for the evenings, as it might be a bit cold in the

evenings and early mornings. Check the weather at: www.bbc.com/weather

Local currency The Armenian Currency is called ARMENIAN DRAM. If you want to see the specimens of

banknotes and coins access the website: http://www.cba.am

Approximate exchange rate is: 1 EUR = 540 AMD, 1 USD = 480 AMD

Contact and more information The project is implemented by Kultur Aktiv e. V. (Germany) responsible for application and

administrative matters of the project and Gyumri “Youth Initiative Centre” NGO (Armenia)

responsible for arrangements and logistics of the seminar. If you need any other additional

information, please contact:

Artur Najaryan (on behalf of the HO YIC) Mobile: + 374 93 85 83 07 E-mail: artur.najaryan@yic.am

Mariam Gharagyozyan (on behalf of the HO YIC) Mobile: + 374 41 02 10 14 E-mail:mariam.gharagyozyan@yic.am

Draft Agenda

Date/Time Day A –

October 6 Day 1 – October 7

Day 2 – October 8

Day 3 – October 9

Day 4 –October 10

Day 5 – October 11

Day 6 – October 12

Day D – October

13

09:00

Arr

ival

Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast

09:30 Getting to know each other/Teambuilding

activities Study Visits in Vanadzor with

Learning Points

Study Visits in Gyumri with

Learning Points

Partnership Building

activities on a train to Yerevan

Work in pairs

on possible

EVS projects on

the bus to Goris

Youthpass and

Individual

Reflection

activity in

Tatev

Dep

arture

11:00 Coffee break Coffee break

11:30

Introduction to the PBS

Expectations and Contributions

Further project

development

and follow-up

planning

13:00 Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch

15:00 EVS in my

Organization Open Air-Sharing of good practices

in EVS

Quality in EVS-Discussion with EVS Volunteers'

input Study Visits in Yerevan with

Learning Points

Study Visits in Goris with Learning

points

Departure from Tatev to Yerevan

16:30 Coffee break Coffee break

17:00 EVS in my

Organization

Quality in EVS-Discussion with EVS Volunteers'

input Evaluation

18:30 Reflection time Trip back to

Gyumri Reflection time Reflection time Reflection time

19:00 Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner Dinner out in

Yerevan Dinner Dinner

21:00 Welcome Evening

Intercultural Evening Free Evening

Local concert in Gyumri with intercultural

elements

Free time in Yerevan

Evening activity

involving local young people

Farewell Evening and Youthpass Ceremony